State of Mac

Guides

Mac apps for students

8kinds of apps for school, and the most installed in each: LibreOffice, Obsidian, Slack, LocalSend and more.

  1. LibreOffice56,736
  2. Obsidian20,417
  3. Slack7,279
  4. LocalSend7,049
  5. Claude20,158
  6. Handy3,398
  7. Itsycal786
  8. OBS6,791

Notes, writing, calls, files and study

The most installed apps in each category, ranked by installs in the last 30 days.

Docs, sheets and PDFs

LibreOfficeFree cross-platform office suite, fresh version#1 · 57K installs
  1. Microsoft Word2.3K
  2. Microsoft Excel2K
  3. Microsoft PowerPoint1.6K

Take notes

ObsidianKnowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files#1 · 20K installs
  1. Notion5.1K
  2. calibre3.6K
  3. MarkEdit1.7K

Chat and calls

SlackTeam communication and collaboration software#1 · 7.3K installs
  1. Discord7K
  2. Zoom6.3K
  3. WhatsApp5K

Cloud storage and transfers

LocalSendOpen-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop#1 · 7K installs
  1. OpenMTP5.7K
  2. Google Drive5.2K
  3. Transmission3.1K

AI assistant

ClaudeAnthropic's official Claude AI desktop app#1 · 20K installs
  1. ChatGPT13K
  2. Gemini2.8K
  3. Grok Bot2.3K

Dictation

HandySpeech to text application#1 · 3.4K installs
  1. FluidVoice1.7K
  2. Wispr Flow1.5K
  3. Textream1.3K

Tasks and calendar

ItsycalMenu bar calendar#1 · 786 installs
  1. MeetingBar585
  2. ActivityWatch565
  3. Todoist543

Screenshots and recording

OBSOpen-source software for live streaming and screen recording#1 · 6.8K installs
  1. Shottr2.6K
  2. KeyCastr1.5K
  3. macshot1.1K

Education and productivity in the App Store

Apps from these categories in Apple's top free Mac chart on Oct 28, 2026, with their overall rank.

Top Free · Education and Productivity

  1. 1
    Microsoft WordProductivityMicrosoft Corporation
    Get
  2. 3
    Microsoft ExcelProductivityMicrosoft Corporation
    Get
  3. 4
    Microsoft PowerPointProductivityMicrosoft Corporation
    Get
  4. 5
    Microsoft OutlookProductivityMicrosoft Corporation
    Get
  5. 10
    HP: Print and SupportProductivityHP Inc.
    Get
  6. 11
    Chatbot: Ask Chat AI AssistantEducationAsif Munir
    Get
  7. 16
    Amazon Kindle: Reading AppBooksAMZN Mobile LLC
    Get
  8. 17
    OneDriveProductivityMicrosoft Corporation
    Get
  9. 19
    AI Chatbot・Ask AI AnythingEducationHira Amin
    Get
  10. 20
    Bluebook ExamsEducationThe College Board
    Get

Install counts come from Homebrew, a free tool many Mac users install apps with, so they describe those people, not every Mac owner. How we count App Store charts are Apple's rankings.